EDITORIAL: Drive to survive

IT’S been a big 12 months for Port Macquarie with a new council, some new (and old) parking measures, and some brand new genuine 24-carat sporting stars in Ryley Batt and James Magnussen.

So what will 2013 bring?

There’s the upcoming Beatles Festival which has the potential to be a headline act in our future deck of drawcards, the plan to slow down coastal erosion is taking shape and we still have jostling and jockeying over the completion date and funding models for the Pacific Highway upgrades.

As some things change, it’s just as sure a bet that many things stay the same.

Our first headline of this year was “Tragic start to 2012” as we mourned two road deaths of young hitchhikers at Sancrox along the Oxley Highway.

Let’s hope that some of the recent behaviour of motorists in this busy season doesn’t lead to similar headlines. It appears another year of road warnings has gone largely unheeded – on Saturday, a 19-year-old woman was clocked driving at 198 km/h.

Facebook has been overwhelmed this festive season with quotes about drivers overtaking in dangerous spots and others taking little time for basic courtesies like using indicators. And it is no good hearing Port Macquarie locals whinge about tourists driving erratically –everybody need to drive to the conditions and be watching other motorists’ behaviour as well as your own.